On Tuesday my class went on a guided tour of Parliament. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take pictures inside Parliament walls so I'll just have to tell you about it.
We first entered the room that the Queen gets dressed in before opening and closing Parliament. It was quite large and had frescoes on each of the walls, telling the story of a historical battle. Next, we walked the path that the Queen would towards the House of Lords. Within the house of lords everything is red except for the carpet. Most impressive was the Queens throne in the House. It is enormous all on its own, not to mention the canopy above it. The whole throne is wood with gold leif. under the canopy the Queen sits with her husband on her left in a chair that is two inches shorter than her own, to remind him of her superiority. On either side of the canopy are two smaller chairs, like the one for Philip, for her daughter and son. One story up, but still in the House of Lords, is a balcony for press and the public, with a modesty panel added when skirt hems rose. There are microphones and professional cameras throughout because debates are broadcasted on TV. There was ornate wood everywhere and the benches that the Lords sit on are upholstered in red leather.
Next we moved out of the House of Lords to the Central Lobby. In the lobby there is a large chandelier and if you stand directly under it, you are in the exact center of the whole Parliament building. The lobby is always open to the public because ever British citizen has the right to come to Parliament and lobby for themselves. The way it works is that a citizen can come to Parliament, fill out a slip stating who their M.P. is and their M.P. must come meet with them immediately. If the M.P. is unavailable one of their secretaries will come let the citizen know when they will next be available. It is really cool to see just how serious the government is about representing their public, unfortunately it is not widely known that citizens have this right but even so, people come every day to lobby.
From the lobby we moved into the House of Commons section of the building. There the color changes from red to green. Much of the space is the same except that the House itself looks much less impressive without a royal throne taking up one end of the room.
Parliament is still wrapped up in royal ceremonies, most notably the opening of Parliament. The way Parliament is opened goes as follows. First the Queen arrives in a royal carriage, still horse drawn even today. At the same time as the Queen is riding to Parliament, her scepter and crown are riding over in their own carriage from the Tower of London where all the royal jewels are held. After the Queen arrives, she is escorted to her dressing room and is helped into her robes for the ceremony. Then, the Queen makes her way through a large hall filled with trumpeters to the House of Lords. She then takes her seat in the throne. When the Queen gives the word, the blackrod goes across the building and knocks on the House of Commons door, with his black rod, hence the name. After he is admitted he states that the Queen summons the House of Commons to the House of Lords. They all make their way to the House of Lords where the Queen then addresses parliament. She gives a speech, written by the Prime Minister, about what is to come in the next year.
It turns out that nobody from the monarch or the House of Lords is allowed in the House of Commons. I forget the whole reason why but the last time a King or Queen entered was after the House had been rebuilt after being bombed during one of the World Wars. The King at the time wanted to see what the new house looked like so he disguised himself and then went upstairs to the public viewing area. Nobody knew that this had happened until after the King's death. This rule is why the blackrod must be sent to invite the House down to the House of Lords and he must knock and be invited in.
The building was amazing to see and I strongly recommend that if anyone is visiting London, they pay for the guided tour.
